CVE-2024-39309 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) SQL Injection vulnerability in parse-server. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 20.2% (97th percentile). A fix is available for parse-server — see the affected versions and patch details below.
ZDI-CAN-23894: Parse Server literalizeRegexPart SQL Injection Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-39309.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2024-39309 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
parse-servernpmDescription
Impact
This vulnerability allows SQL injection when Parse Server is configured to use the PostgreSQL database.
Patches
The algorithm to detect SQL injection has been improved.
Workarounds
None.
References
- https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/security/advisories/GHSA-c2hr-cqg6-8j6r
- https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/9167 (fix for Parse Server 7)
- https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/9168 (fix for Parse Server 6)
Credits
- Smile Thanapattheerakul of Trend Micro (finder)
- Manuel Trezza (coordinator)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | parse-server | all versions | 6.5.7npm install parse-server@6.5.7 |
| 📦npm | parse-server | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.1.0 | 7.1.0npm install parse-server@7.1.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for parse-server, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update parse-server to 6.5.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-39309 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-39309 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-39309. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-39309 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-39309 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.